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Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Providing a "rich" language experience

During a heated game of Monopoly Jr., a distressed Julia exclaimed, "Barn it!"

It wasn't "barn" she said exactly. It was something though that quite resembled "darn." I knew she was effectively trying out a new pseudo swear she'd half heard at school.

And here I am, squarely in the middle of a dilemma I knew was coming. Do I correct pronunciation of words I don't want her to say?

Some parents of deaf/hard-of-hearing children purposefully teach their children curse words. I once read a mother's blog post about equipping her deaf son with the whole English language. She didn't want him to be left out and so she personally clued him in.

I can't do it.

In six and a half years, I've kept almost all unsavory language in the confines of my own mind. Out loud I say, "shoot" and "oh man" and "holy cow." Sometimes the word "crap" slips out. I remind myself to be more careful. I don't think little kids are cute when they say it. Especially not my little kid.

I must leave this one up to the rest of society.

I handled the first mangled potty word to come home by teaching her the correct pronunciation. Then I told her we don't talk like that. Someday, I might have to explain why we skip "F" when we rhyme with duck. Hopefully by then she'll have some advanced skills to supplement her hearing, her classmates can write it down.